Barbara abandons her brief
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FROM PERMUTATIONS TO PUPPETS 'ram a special correspondent
I, The new Ministry of Transport report Dn Road Track Costs is an example of the
denefits to be derived from the Ministry having its own team of economists. Moreover, no )revious Minister has gone to so much trouble 3ri track costs.
Even when spoken by the Minister herself, ;uch innocuous opening remarks as these at he Press conference held in London last week 3n the publication of this report would hardly lave been worth recording—normally.
But the occasion was not normal for very ong. In the twinkling of an eye, journalists 3reviously resigned to yet another session of .rack-cost bashing suddenly found themselves :ransported—in spirit at least—to Vienna in kpril and Puppets on a String.
How did it happen? It was "Bill's" fault :eally—Transport "Bill", that is. Mrs. Bar mra Castle seemingly does not like him and mshing sheaves of track cost notes aside— :Aid so in forthright terms: A very big cam mign was being mounted against her Trans 3ort Bill now before Parliament and was beng run by a high-powered public relations ,an. Apparently a wicked conspiracy was ;foot to persuade hauliers to fight for their ivelihood. This, it seemed, was an irrational 'ling to do and she had hoped for "informed"
lebates on the country's transport problems. The Minister was particularly annoyed at he report on the annual freight cost of her
fransport Bill (CM February 9) published by the Tories with a foreword by Mr. Peter Nalker, the Shadow Transport Minister. Dis :counting the Tory estimate of £150m, she nevertheless refused to name her own figure despite repeated questioning. But, for good measure, she added: "I have no time for puppets on a string whether they are manipulated by Peter Walker. the Road Haulage Association, or anybody else—so let us have some of the facts".
Actually that was just what a questioner wanted when he inquired why, in the Min istry's report on road track costs, which it was admitted had taken a year to prepare, he table of revenue/cost ratio showed varia :ions in vehicles under 3 tons unladen after he notional payment of the new road haulage :harge, when in fact the proposed charge does not apply to such vehicles. He was asked :o wait. And at the end of the conference he was still waiting.
Hurling descriptions such as -sheer fantasy" and "pure invention" at the Tory report on
ler Bill, she insisted that it was living in ''cuckoo land" to claim that her Bill would compel hauliers to use smaller lorries. Hardly as reassuring to hauliers as to herself, she iehemently insisted that heavy lorry licence applications would not be refused if it would 3ost more to send the goods by rail.